Our featured blogger today is Caleb Burley. He is a 15 year old freshman from the Westside Church of Christ youth group.

Caleb and J-Mac fighting the sun to take a picture together

So far my first time to come to Fortress has been mind blowing in all ways of the term. When I came here I expected trouble makers, but now I see these kids are sweet, kind, loving, caring, and valuable. My official kid was Jamarion (J-Mac), but one kid named Darrien has clung on to me while J-Mac decided he doesn't like me anymore because I helped him in math.

For those of you reading who have been here you know these kids are hilarious. We did a play where the opening line was, "Hey, I'm a leper." When we asked what happened in the play, one kid named RaNyah said, "That leprechaun!" Need I say more? Yesterday a preschooler was asked who else was a slave in his story. The preschooler yelled, "Django was a slave!" Many more funny moments have and will happen.

The urban experiences we do are by far the hardest yet easiest things I've done. They are hard because you have to stretch you're mind to think about what you're doing and seeing is possible. We somehow fed 30 people on $27, had a tour of historic Fort Worth, and met some homeless people that despite their situations are really happy.

Of all the verses in the bible, none can describe my experience. A verse of a song, yeah. The chorus of "Home" by Phillip Phillips is amazing and what it says to me is this: At home someone will always love you. Fortress is a home to lots of kids. I'm so grateful God sent me her, and I will come here any chance I ever get.